Seclusion
by Casey Crystal
Summary: A Rufus story, something that I dare call an original idea. Perhaps Shinra had more secrets that we were not aware of...


Seclusion 

**A/N** - My, it's been a while since I've last posted anything, hasn't it? My newest fiction is a strange little idea I once had. Perhaps there were more secrets from Shinra's past which we were not aware about.

BTW, The scenes that are completely italicized are scenes from the past. Just thought I'd clear that up for you. Hope you enjoy the story.  

~Cas

* * * * *

"It was a tragedy, an unbelievable shadow of darkness cast over us. We never saw it coming.  I'm sure that our family shall never be the same...."

The emotionless voice faded miles away. A stray lock of hair fell in front of his face as he looked to the floor, and he flicked it absently. Quietly, he swung his feet back and forth, being too small to reach the marble floor. 

_A tragedy..._

He looked up without moving his head, his eyes scanning the room around him. Tearful eyes looked upon him and heads were shook in disbelief. 

_We never saw it coming..._

Did they wonder what thoughts he entertained, the feelings he held? Were those many tears genuine, or perhaps false sympathy? 

_Our family shall never be the same..._

His eyes followed the movements of his father's black uniform as he spoke, then slowly lowered down to his own spotless white clothing. He was dressed in these colors to assure the angelic image of a heartbroken child, as his father was playing on the public's sympathy for him. Who wouldn't be able to look in that blank stare of the lone Shinra heir, and not want to weep for the company's loss? Wouldn't the public wish to become more loyal to Shinra after this devastation?

A small, helpless fist was made as the young Rufus wondered who was honestly weeping for his late mother. The thought that he was the heir to the grand empire made him even more lovable. The top executives were all present, though he could see through their transparent sympathy. Scarlet was sitting next to him, stoking his soft blonde hair and softly speaking rehearsed sympathies. She wouldn't shed a tear, for fear her makeup would ruin. Already she had latched onto the boy, in hopes to be in his favour, and fondly thought of when he inherited the company. 

His father still spoke to the congregation, his carefully placed words mourning for his beautiful wife who he loved dearly. But when the event was over, the visitors were gone, and the cameras were switched off, he never gave the woman another thought.

* * * * *

He walked briskly down the empty hallway, his free hand absently trailing along the wall. He quickly reached his destination, an ordinary door in the less popular section of the Junon HQ, and placed his key card in the lock. Though the room may appear to be an ordinary office like its neighbours, there was a reason only a select few had the key cards that could open this lock. This door even had more security than the top floor of Shinra HQ in Midgar.

He stepped slowly into the storage room, a treasure of case files collected from Shinra's extensive history. Locked drawers lined the walls and there were a few isles with assorted types of files. A single desk was placed near the front, which his hand trailed across as he walked by.

Rufus frowned at the paperwork he held in his hands. He had been informed earlier of the events that took place in Midgar hours ago, with the capture of the Cetra and the rebel group that they've been searching for for many years. He would have brushed off this event but he had been ordered to do the paperwork for this group. He walked into one of the isles and reached for a folder when a carelessly placed folder beside it was knocked onto the ground. 

His grey eyes looked blankly to the floor at the small mess of paperwork. _This is going to be a long night._

* * * * *

_It was a dark time for the entire world. Word of the sudden war had spread so quickly throughout the towns. Wutai against Midgar. Towns were ordered to choose sides, to declare one an ally, the other an enemy. _

_As Nibleheim was already under control of Midgar, SOLDIERS were sent in as a defence unit, and many men were eagerly recruited to join the elite troops. Mostly young men were chosen, as their bodies could easily take high dosages of mako infusions and easily adapt, where an older man might suffer effects. _

_She sadly looked out the window at the miserable storm outside. She held a tight grip on a small slip of paper in her shaking hands.  She opened it for what must have been the thousandth time. In the engraved letter was a single name, Strife._

They were calling for her husband to join Shinra's army. He was not that young a man, but nonetheless Shinra wants him recruited. In the lower corner was a signature, President Shinra. Most letters were photocopied, but this specific piece of paper was attended to personally. There was no mistake that her husband, who was much older than most men drafted, was called upon. 

_She wiped away a single angry tear and turned to her infant son, stroking her hand through his soft blond hair._

* * * * *

He knelt to gather a stray file folder, when he noticed the name scribbled at the top, and pulled his hand back. His mother's name was what was written in the box. Again he reached for the file, a little more tenderly this time, to gain a better view of the title. Why would there be a classified file on his own mother?

Absently, he put the other folders back onto the shelf, and carried the newfound file to the desk, his eyes never leaving the name.

He sat down, and placed the file before him, rubbing off the slight layer of dusk that had collected. Slowly he pulled the papers out but not attempting to read them yet. He hadn't thought of his mother in years, would he honestly wish to finally learn of what happened to this woman?

* * * * *

Nearly a month had passed since the war had brutally ended with Midgar's reigning over Wutai, and still she had not seen any sign of her husband returning home. All of the other boys had returned victoriously, and therefore gossip had been spreading about Strife's whereabouts. "Maybe he found another woman during the war and never came home." "What is she trying to prove, that she's honestly a widow?" "Tsk, tsk." "What about Cloud, that young Strife?" "What kind of life is he to live?" "With a mother like that?" "No wonder his father will not return home." "A shame..."

_She ignored their harsh words with her head held high, and with such pride. She knew they were wrong, but she would never lash out at their cruel comments. They wouldn't understand why her husband didn't survive. Why he couldn't survive the war. _

* * * * *

He hesitantly turned the folder cover over. The first page was a simple page of his mother's basic statistics: height, birthplace, birth date, etc. 

The next page, however, held different information. Rufus immediately recognised the work to be done by Hojo.

**X Day, X Month, X Year**

_Subject is found to be several months pregnant. President Shinra has requested and permitted me to perform the experiments previously used successfully on the subject Sephiroth. Injections will take place immediately and regularly._

Rufus froze. If what he was reading was correct, then it was possible that his mother was supposed to give birth to the next Sephiroth. Was he once this child that Hojo experimented on? Why wasn't he aware of this?

**X Day, X Month, X Year**

Regular injections are appearing to be successful. The unborn child is responding well to treatment. However its mother is reluctant, often violent and overprotective of her child. President Shinra has permitted me to use whatever means necessary to continue treatment. Physical force has been agreed to be necessary enough.

**X Day, X Month, X Year**

Unborn child is quite healthy and is due quite soon. It does not appear to be as responsive as the subject Sephiroth was at this stage. Perhaps a stronger dosage will remedy this.

**X Day, X Month, X Year**

Subject was born this morning as a healthy male baby. Due to constant nagging of the mother, President Shinra has demanded the cease of the experiment. It is a disappointment that even though the child was not as responsive as predicted, he would've made a fine specimen if injections were still permitted.

It was confirmed; He was the child who was experimented, for his birth date is the same as the one noted before him. Quite obviously his mother's persistency was what kept him from being one of Hojo's twisted experiments. She had saved her son from what could have been a tragedy. The "great" Sephiroth had reportedly gone insane and died five years ago. If he was supposed to be the next Sephiroth as Hojo had hoped for, it's logical to assume he would have gone insane as well.

Rufus rubbed at his temples. There were still several pages left in the folder. 

* * * * *

The young child sighed and rubbed at his eyes sleepily. He was sitting at a desk – after placing a book several inches thick so that he could be at a proper height – and looking at small book with such reluctance.

A sudden noise made him look up. "Mommy!" the five year old exclaimed at the brightly smiling woman standing in the doorway. Instantly he flew off his chair and into her arms.

"Rufus!" she grinned and caught him. "What are you doing in here?"

"Readin'," he said, "Daddy's makin' me."

She looked from his bright blue eyes to the small book sitting upon the desk and frowned. She didn't have to look it over to know that it was much higher than the average reading level for a five year old. Her husband had incredibly high expectations for their son, and had him reading at any chance he got. She knew that Rufus shouldn't be pressured like this, so she took his hand. "C'mon, Rufus. Do you wanna come out and play with me?"

"Yeah!"

"What are you doing?"

The two looked up to see President Shinra blocking their way out of the room. He and Rufus's mother's eyes locked in a glare. "You can't just keep making him learn. He needs to play as well."

"I'll be the judge of that. Rufus, go back to your reading."

The child nodded sadly and slowly headed back to his seat. Though he was still quite young, he understood not to disobey his father long ago. If ever he didn't listen to orders he'd be beaten horribly.

As he sat down, he watched as his father grabbed his mother by the arm and angrily dragged her out of the room. She gave him one last, sad look as she was pulled from his view.

He didn't know it at the time, but that was to be the last time he would ever seen his mother again. The next morning a messenger told him that she had died.

It was reported as a suicide. 

* * * * *

She looked up as she heard the front door slamming shut. "Cloud?" she called, "are you home?" The small child nodded and came into the kitchen where his mother was. Fresh tears stung at the cut on his left cheek. "Cloud! What happened to you?"

"Got in a fight…" He lowered his eyes ashamedly. "Why do the other kids hate me so much?"

She began to tend to his cut. "I don't know, honey. You know what I told you about bullies; they only pick on others to try to feel good about themselves." She bit her lip at the lie. She knew it was because of what the town thought of her. Of course they would treat her son as horribly as they treat her.

"They called me a bastard, Mom," sniffed Cloud. "I wish that Dad was still alive, so that they wouldn't call me that…"

"Me too, sweetie, me too…"

* * * * *

Rufus flipped to the second page in the folder. Instead of a series of journal entries, this particular page was a personal letter to his father:

X Day, X Month, X Year

Dear President Shinra,

After a little investigation, I can confirm that your wife is residing in Nibleheim and posing as a common citizen. No one from the Project has had an encounter with her, so I believe that she is therefore unaware of the Project. I have enclosed several pictures of her and another male, though his identity is unconfirmed as of yet. I will look into this further.

~Zangan

Rufus blinked. This date took place shortly after his mother's funeral. If this were true, then his mother had not died; she had merely fled Midgar and her father had organized a funeral to cover up the event. His father must have contacted those who were residing at the Shinra Mansion at that time inquiring about his wife. 

He believed that it was around that time that Hojo's "specimen" Sephiroth was in his early teens, and therefore Zangan and several other employees had taken him down there to train him as a member as SOLDIER. Zangan had quit Shinra quite a few years ago to remain in Shinra when the Project ended, but for many years he had made the finest Turk. It was he who had trained Tseng to be the next leader of the Turks. Wearily, he opened up the following letter.

X Day, X Month, X Year

Dear President Shinra,

After some extensive research and investigation, I can confirm the identity of the man involved with your wife as Strife, and the two have married quite recently. He does not seem to be aware of her true identity.

~Zangan

The next page was a photocopy of a formal letter to the Strife household just prior to the Midgar/Wutai war. It was brief, but demanded that any able man come and join the army to defend Midgar. The following letter was from Tseng when the man had just joined the elite Turks. It was a confirmation that Strife had arrived at the Shinra HQ and was assassinated with no difficulty. Obviously the only reason why Rufus's father drafted this man was to have him assassinated, merely out of anger and jealousy. 

The next letter in the folder was a photocopy of a birth certificate, of his mother's second son, Cloud Strife. Apparently Tseng had made an expectant mother a widow. Rufus picked up the certificate and stared at it. Ever since he lost his mother he was left with a father who kept his distance, and felt like he had no real family. But this piece of paper meant that he had a relative somewhere, a brother. He reviewed it a moment longer before placing it in one of his jacket pockets along with his mother's true death certificate. He had a few things to discuss with the old man when he got the next opportunity.

The next and final paper was a death certificate of his mother. The date on the paper told him that the woman had died during the great Nibleheim fire, five long years ago.

"Sir?" a sudden voice asked and Rufus had jumped, started at the suddenly interruption. His grey eyes rose to meet those of the SOLDIER who was assigned as his guard for the night. "Sir, are you alright?"

Sighing, he began neatly placing the papers back into their respective places in the folder. "I'm fine, Elena," he said in his trademark cold manner, "I merely had to review something." However the normally easily reassured young woman didn't seem so relieved at his words. "Something the matter?"

"There's a call for you on the PHS. It's Scarlet."

* * * * *

She slowly awoke to the threatening smell of smoke. It haunted her lungs and forced her into a fit of coughs. Her eyes widened in horror and she found herself awakening to a nightmare.

The room glowed crimson with flames eating away at the walls; the beam above her bed threatened to crack under pressure and crush her. The smoke was getting to be too much; she had to get out. Now.

In a sudden rush of adrenaline, she rose to her bed and raced to the door. She reached for the doorknob, and screamed in pain as the metal object burnt her hands. Instinctively she wrapped the sleeve of her nightgown around her hand and quickly turned the fire-hot doorknob. Within seconds she was through the doorway.

She had unwillingly stopped in her tracks and gave in to another painful fit of coughing, and wearily looked at the remains of her home. Everything was in flames and the room was fogged with smoke. It unmercifully stung her eyes and burned at her throat.

It was suddenly too much; she had inhaled too much smoke and was too old to handle it. Her eyelids felt unnaturally heavy and she collapsed onto the floor, slipping into unconsciousness.

She had died almost immediately, but not before a single tear fell down her cheek. The fire continued to savagely burn throughout the night.

* * * * *

"Damnit, Scarlet!" Rufus muttered into the phone. "This better be worth my time."

"Rufus, darling," cooed Scarlet, contrasting his harsh tone with a seductive feminine one. "I'm afraid I've got some terrible news."

"Hm? What is it?"

She took a hesitant breath before continuing. "Your father is dead."

"What? How?"

"The bastard Palmer found him at his desk with a sword sticking out of his fat body. Kya ha ha! Do you know what he said? The madman's claiming that Sephiroth, of all people, had broken into the HQ and murdered him."

So the old man was finally did in, Rufus mused to himself.

"I should advise you to return to Midgar immediately, sir. We're going to need to clean this mess up before the media gets a hold of this. A bad reputation is not something we need," Scarlet continued.

"Mm? Oh, of course. I'll return to Midgar immediately," replied Rufus distractedly. Imagine, the bastard is finally dead. A soft grin graced his features. After all these years.

"I've already arranged for a helicopter to pick you up. It should be there any minute now, sir. Oh, and let me be the first to congratulate you on your promotion, Mr. President." And with that, Scarlet cackled happily and hung up, leaving the blonde man with his own thoughts.

* * * * *

He absently tapped his fingers on his knee while looking out the helicopter at the great looming tower that was rising in the distance. Shinra Headquarters. How long has it been since his last visit here?

Feels like it's been forever.

"We'll be landing shortly, sir," said the pilot, though Rufus made no outward sign of acknowledgement. Within seconds they were just outside the window of his late father's office. He could see several people within but could not recognise the figures. 

He stepped out of the helicopter just as Palmer had burst onto the deck in a panic. "S-Sephiroth!" he blurted out, "Sephiroth's back!"

Rufus made a face as he detected a foul stench coming from the man before him, but chose not to mention it. It would be a waste of time. "Go announce to Scarlet that I'm here," he said emotionlessly and his eyes flickered towards the group of strangers approaching him. Palmer nodded and rushed off immediately. "So…" he muttered to himself, "So Sephiroth was actually here. ...By the way. Who are you guys?" 

The blonde man with spiked hair introduced himself first. "I'm Cloud, former SOLDIER First Class!" Former? Thought Rufus to himself, what is this lunatic doing here then? Must be some sort of rebel group. Have I heard of them? This boy's name is familiar…

Next, the black man on the very right spoke up with authority and pride. "I'm from AVALANCE!" Rufus looked at him with obvious disinterest.

"Same here!" chirped the woman on the left. She wore an outfit that was nearly as revealing as Scarlet's. Briefly he wondered if she was a prostitute from the slums. Then again, you could never tell. Down there, those miserable creatures all seem to look alike.

"…a flower girl from the slums," spoke the woman next to the black man. Rufus's cold eyes looked at her and she hesitated, seeming to not want attention on herself.

Suddenly the animal to the left of Cloud spoke up. "A research specimen." Obviously one of Hojo's little projects. This one seems similar to DarkNation. 

"What a crew," said Rufus, looking at the five with obvious amusement. "Well I'm Rufus. The President of Shinra, Incorporated."

"You only President, 'cause your old man died!" the black man blurted out suddenly and angrily. 

Where the hell is Scarlet? Rufus wondered, she should've been here by now and have had these lowlifes arrested. Inwardly, he sighed. He knew he'd have to continue stalling until she showed up with SOLDIERS. 

"That's right," he agreed. "I'll let you hear my new appointment speech. ...Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside," he paused and looked to the group before resuming his speech.

"But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them." I'm going to do this my way, he thought with pride.

"He likes to make speeches like his father," noted the girl in the revealing clothes, with a hint of boredom. 

The boy standing in front of Rufus turned to the black man suddenly. "Get outta this building with Aeris!" He demanded.

"What?" the reply sounded surprised. 

"I'll explain later! Barret! This is the real crisis for the planet!"

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you later! Just take my word for it! I'll go after I take care of him!"

"Awright, Cloud!" 

Hmm? Cloud? thought Rufus, where did I hear that name from...? His mind then drifted back to when he was reading the contents of the folder back in Junon….

The next letter in the folder was a photocopy of a birth certificate, of his mother's second son, Cloud Strife. Apparently Tseng had made an expectant mother a widow. Rufus picked up the certificate and stared at it. Ever since he lost his mother he was left with a father who kept his distance, and felt like he had no real family. But this piece of paper meant that he had a relative somewhere, a brother. He reviewed it a moment longer before placing it in one of his jacket pockets along with his mother's true death certificate. He had a few things to discuss with the old man when he got the next opportunity.

But there would not be a next opportunity. The old man was dead, and the Cloud that Rufus read about was the very man standing before him. 

The rebel group agreed and ran from the area, leaving Rufus alone with Cloud. The president looked at Cloud with renewed interest. "Why do you want to fight me?"

"You seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth," Cloud answered plainly, as if that was the answer Rufus was waiting to hear. 

"Hm," he said. Obviously the boy has no idea of what I know. "Exactly." He decided it would be best not to mention. It was likely that Cloud wouldn't believe him. Again, he wondered where Scarlet could be. Perhaps that large Palmer was too chicken to deliver the message to her of his arrival. "Mm? Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?"

That seemed to catch Cloud off guard. "…A lot has happened." His eyes narrowed. "Anyways, I can't let either of you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land!"

Rufus sighed. He was hoping he would not have to fight this stranger, his brother. "I see. I guess this means we won't become friends." He had imagined finding his brother after a long search and the reunion would be something memorable. He was not expecting to find the man in his building, a rebel against the family company.

The battle began, but it hardly registered in Rufus' mind. He barely felt Cloud's attacks and at the same time barely feeling himself attack in return. He didn't want to believe that it was his own brother, the only family he has left, that he was fighting.

I must get out of here…If I don't.. He didn't finish that thought. He didn't want to think about how the battle could possibly end.

He looked at Cloud and gave him his trademark grin. "Heh… That's all for today." He didn't wait for the boy to react, and he retreated back to the helicopter. Scarlet would just have to wait a little longer for Rufus to meet her and prepare to clean up the old man's mess.

*** * * * ***

"Kya ha ha ha!" came the familiar cackle of Scarlet as Rufus pushed the grand doors of the office open. Instantly he noticed that every senior staff member was present, including the Turks. He noted that although the body of his father was already gone and the blood cleaned, he still noticed a small crimson stain on the great desk. The blonde woman turned and her smile brightened. "Rufus, dear! So glad you finally decided to show up! I was beginning to worry about you!"

He smirked in reply; Scarlet still hasn't changed her attitude towards him since the funeral of his mother's. "I was a little occupied with the rebel group that had somehow snuck into our building. How had the security system become so weak since my last visit?"

"Um…" she flushed. "I don't know, Mr President. Some buffoon in the security room must have screwed things over. I'll make sure he's dealt with properly."

"Make sure of it. Oh, and I don't ever want to be called the same title of my old man's. President Rufus will do much better."

"Yes, sir!" agreed everyone in the room, and the President suppressed a sigh. Incompetent yes-men.

"Wow, blondie," grinned one of the Turks. "Today's a great day for surprises, ain't it?"

Rufus looked over at the Turk with flame red hair and such a poor upkeep of his uniform that he should've been fired long ago. But despite Shinra's strong sense of presentation, Reno made such a strong Turk that his appearance was often overlooked.

"More than you know, Reno, more than you know."

He left the room and the confused occupants behind and looked around. After all these years, he was home again.

The end.

*** * * * ***

**A/N** – That took much longer to write than I anticipated! And Rufus's comment about Tifa's appearance wasn't a bashing of Tifa or Tifa fans for that matter. Note: the characters and places mentioned belong to Squaresoft. What? You think I'm intelligent to come up with such awesome characters? And as usual, reviews are always appreciated. Really appreciated, in fact! *grins*


End file.
